But yeah, if you think that massive upper end tax cuts are compatible with increased military spending (and yes, upper end tax cuts have lead to decreased revenue in the US), if you think that DACA people are mostly criminals and you think that America was “great”, at least socially speaking, in the 1950’s, well, then, yeah, you probably liked the speech.

workout notes didn’t take Naproxen AND went for a hilly walk outdoors in my old shoes. Mistake. When I woke up the heel (left) felt great; not so much afterward. Ok, it hurts.

I’ve seen it all over my feed; the idea is that the Muller investigation (a necessary thing) will somehow take down Trump. Nope. That is just fantasy…albeit a fantasy shared by many, many hopeful liberals on Twitter. For the unaware: many conservatives said the same thing about President Obama for years..

Nope..if we want to stop Trump we need to win the 2018 and 2020 elections. And though I think that we have a shot at one chamber in 2018, defeating Trump in 2020 will be more difficult than many expect, even though Trump is more unpopular than other presidents this early into his administration, and especially unpopular given the decent economic numbers. Right now, Real Clear Politics has him at 40.1 percent.

Health care: of course, too many abuse the emergency room. I can understand insurance companies cracking down on it. However, some companies go by the diagnosis rather than how a reasonable person would react to the symptoms, and sometimes, a benign condition (say, reflux) shares symptoms and pain similar to a life threatening condition (say, a heart attack) and individuals are incapable of self diagnosing.

That is just crazy.

Workout notes: 7 miles; 5 run, 2 walk. Run: did 5.1 for 10 minutes, 5.2-5.3-5.4 for the next 5 minute segments, 5.5 and 5.6 to take me to mile 4 then 6.7 for the .75 and 6.8 for the final .25
(23:10 at 2, 34:00 at 3, 44:45 at 4, 53:35 at 5), then walked to 5.7 on the treadmill, then 1.5 miles on the track (15:30’ish miles).

I really don’t care much about award shows, but at the Grammy awards, Hillary Clinton made a cameo appearance (via video) and read a tiny bit from Fire and Fury and, well, poked fun at Trump’s lack of intellectualism (noted that other presidents and politicians have won Grammy awards for reading). Well, some liberals…actually took exception:

The whole premise was, of course, cooked up to give the show an excuse to display its TDS (Trump Derangement Syndrome). It’s bad enough that there’s a gratuitous slur at Trump at the Grammys, one that had nothing to do with music, but when his opponent in the election reads about his predilection for McDonald’s burgers, well, it’s not only not funny, but it’s unseemly. And it surely won’t make middle America like the Democratic Party any better. Perhaps the advance word that the show would be politicized accounts in part for the huge drop in viewership compared to last year.

Now, yeah, I found it a bit unseemly too, but…really…SO. FUCKING. WHAT. Trump has never hesitated to sling insults at private citizens. And who gives a damn what Trump supporters would think? They are utterly unreachable; trying to talk to them would be like giving a science argument to a Bible beater. There is an outside chance that we can flip just enough of the “I didn’t like Trump but I absolutely LOATHED Hillary” voters.

But there you have it…liberals criticizing liberals for taking the low road (in a benign way). When have you seen Republicans do that to other Republicans?

Or..let some liberal make fun of Sarah Sanders or Kellyanne Conway in the “wrong way” and some SJW will ride in to attack you for your “misogyny”.

Even worse: our very mindset of taking up for the perceived underdog is not politically popular. Liberals vocally support: the poor, the homeless, the mentally ill, the Dreamers, rights for illegal aliens…the rights for ex felons to vote, rights for transgirls to shower with genetic girls, etc. And any semblance of a discussion will be met with “oh, you are just a bigot” or “that is just bigotry”, blah, blah, blah.

Now ..hear me out..there are times when a pet can lead to increased emotional and mental health..and the pet might be cheaper than other therapies. So that being covered by services for the indigent might not be a bad idea..but I think that the funding ought to come from another pot (Medicaid? “Paws for the poor”(ok, I just made that up))

Had the notorious “Yoga Sex Scandal” (as it was called by the New York Times) gone down six months ago, I might have jumped on the shock-and-horror bandwagon with nearly everyone else in the blogosphere. But as a new transplant to Santa Monica (a city I often refer to as 2nd chakra central), I was hardly surprised. At the very first class I took in L.A., a male teacher unexpectedly caressed—OK, more like groped— my ass in Downward Dog. There I was, minding my own ujjayi breath, when suddenly I felt a hand sliding over my spandex covered thigh.

At first I was shocked. He was supposed to be a professional, and here he was caressing my butt cheek in a public yoga class. But as he walked away, I felt my hips involuntarily sway back a little bit, almost as if silently asking for more. I felt a flutter in the pit of my stomach, my cheeks flushing red hot. My mind couldn’t believe the way my body was responding … had I actually enjoyed that?

[…]

But another part of me—and this is something I feel a bit embarrassed to admit—knew that I hadn’t spoken up because, well, because it felt good. Something in me had enjoyed the touch, relished in the intimacy of a tender caress. It had felt tantalizing, almost intoxicating to be the object of that teacher’s affection. I felt wanted, desired, and, counterintuitive as it may seem, it made me feel powerful.

I hiked about 4 miles with Ms. Vickie prior to practicing “partner yoga”. The stretches in partner yoga are more intense (mostly) and one has to focus a bit more..it is one thing to fall over. It is another to knock your partner down by falling over!

I do have some minor heel pain (left heel); not sure if it is PF or a heel bruise. I’ve had this before.

Ok, the women had a tough weekend. After an incredible 117-58 win against an overmatched Evansville team on the road (EU had not lost this badly to anyone until this game..then got bombed by Valpo)…The Braves struggled badly on offense in a 51-40 loss to Northern Iowa at home. The first quarter score was 12-6 and at the half it was only 26-20. Though BU’s defense was good, Northern Iowa’s was smothering.

Then on Sunday, BU hosted the best team in the MVC: Drake. And Drake’s lead was up to 19 points in the second quarter and 15 at the half.

But BU fought back valiantly and cut the lead to 3 with 6 minutes to go in the game. It was to end 84-75 though; BU was in a position where they had to play perfectly in order to win, and that is a bad position to be in.

The reason I said it was “mixed”: the Bradley men won at Indiana State 81-73, its first MVC road win on the season. That was huge. ISU-blue is not a great team, but the did blow out ISU-red by 30 a week ago or so.

Of course, shooting 61 percent from 3 point range..that really help (and will not happen often).

I decided to get some new shoes; one pair for walking, one for running and one to teach in (I spend some time on my feet; I stand when I teach).

In the process: I found that my arches have returned and that my “shuffling” gait ..has taken much of my pronation out of my gait. I used to crush my shoes to the inside..that was true even as of 22-23 years ago.

Things do change with time.

Today: gads, perfect weather but I couldn’t manage much of a run, (between 6 miles on Thursday and squats yesterday). So I jogged about 2 miles (with one walk break) and then walked the rest of this course.

I went around the goose loop; I could get no speed going on the way back.

Note: on the way out, during my jogging stretch, I got passed a couple of times by bespandexed females..one had a very ample behind. Then again, I was shuffling about 12 mpm and maybe she was doing 10 mpm?

Seeing the Rumours Tribute Show got me to thinking about Fleetwood Mac again..and I was reminded that, while they had monster success after Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks joined, and oh my gosh, am I a fan of that band, they were pretty good prior to that.

So, here are a few of my favorite pre Buckingham-Nicks Fleetwood Mac songs:

Black Magic Woman (yes, this is a Fleetwood Mac song, though Santana’s performance of it is probably more famous in the US)

Albatross: a lovely, lovely instrumental

Sentimental Lady: the original version of the Bob Welsh hit (a longer version); though the solo version had Mic Fleetwood on the drums, Lindsey Buckingham on guitar and Christine McVie on backup vocals.

Ok, the solo version:

Now back to Fleetwood Mac: I loved the album “Mystery to Me”. Here are a couple of my favorite cuts:

Hypnotized

Just Crazy Love

Oh Well: about 2:20 of blues followed by some acoustic instrumental …almost 7 minutes long..almost haunting.

This article talks about the pitfalls of politics becoming amateur hour. Not everyone has the talent for it..and someone having a platform that I agree with does not mean that they’ll get any action on said platform.

A senior adviser to Hillary Clinton’s 2008 presidential campaign who was accused of repeatedly sexually harassing a young subordinate was kept on the campaign at Mrs. Clinton’s request, according to four people familiar with what took place.

Mrs. Clinton’s campaign manager at the time recommended that she fire the adviser, Burns Strider. But Mrs. Clinton did not. Instead, Mr. Strider was docked several weeks of pay and ordered to undergo counseling, and the young woman was moved to a new job.

Mr. Strider, who was Mrs. Clinton’s faith adviser, a co-founder of the American Values Network, and sent the candidate scripture readings every morning for months during the campaign, was hired five years later to lead an independent group that supported Mrs. Clinton’s 2016 candidacy, Correct the Record, which was created by a close Clinton ally, David Brock.

He was fired after several months for workplace issues, including allegations that he harassed a young female aide, according to three people close to Correct the Record’s management.

In other words, Hillary Clinton tried a less strident, less draconian approach and attempted to reform. And she is getting creamed for it!

Sigh… You can make a credible argument that she *should* have fired him, but it isn’t as if she looked the other way.

Personal As I finished my power walk, a lose German shepherd saw me and followed me for about 1/2 a mile…like I was walking it without a leash. I was afraid that someone might think that I was being irresponsible!

Ok, the Democrats are negotiating a budget deal without conditions for DACA. Now some are decrying the “spineless Democrats” or not sticking up for what most Americans want (for DACA to be renewed; this old poll has it at 73 percent).

But what many people do not get is that “we want this” does not mean “we want this at any price”:

New Quinnipiac poll:

•79% of 18-34 say shut down not worth it for DACA•53% of DACA supporters say shut down not worth it to pass it•Whites w/o a college degree & African Americans are two groups least motivated to vote in midterms at 80% motivated https://t.co/nFV4DUoH1o

So shutting down the government in order to get our way on DACA is NOT worth it to even most supporters.

Now will we get a clean DACA bill? Personally, I think it is worth it to try even if POTUS vetoes it.

Workout notes pretty weather so I was planning on a decent treadmill run followed by a walk outside. Well, the run wore me out (10K in 1:10:21, 1:07:20 for the first 6 miles); I did “froggy” on the 1/2 mile from 0 to 4 miles then played with speed; quick walking break for .1 miles after 5. (56:20) But walking home..I had no desire to walk at even a deliberate pace. So I called it a day.

Ok, Missouri State was short handed 1 player before the game and their best player got into foul trouble early. Still Bradley raced out to a 12 point lead in the first half, only to see the lead dwindle to 29-28 at the half.

About Blueollie

To keep track of my sports activities. I rarely train for anything anymore; mostly I just do workouts of the following types: running, walking, weight lifting and swimming. My best ultra accomplishment was walking 101 miles in 24 hours in 2004. These days, I walk a marathon every once in a while (5:50 to 7 hours) There was a time when I could run a sub 40 minute 10K (did that once), but that was another lifetime ago; these a days 2427-282525:50-27:45 28-31 minutes for a 5K would be more like it. I also have an off and on interest in yoga and in weight training. My lifetime PB in the bench is 310; currently I do sets of 4-5 with 190 185.

Best this year has been 200 (relatively easy).

To discuss the football, basketball or baseball game I’ve been to. Since 2011, I started to attend live football games regularly (University of Illinois, sometimes Illinois State, sometimes either the Colts or Bears of the NFL…don’t get me started on the Rams) ; I’ve attended Bradley Basketball games (men and women) for some time. In the past 3 years, I started to watch live baseball again (mostly the Peoria Chiefs (low A affiliate of the Cardinals) and Bradley University; sometimes the Normal Cornbelters (Frontier League; similar to low A level ball).

From time to time, I post what I am thinking about mathematically

I often post links to science articles, especially articles about cosmology and evolution.

I am very sympathetic to the “new atheist” movement, though some might consider me to be an agnostic. I reject any notion of a deity that interferes with physical events, but remain agnostic to the idea that there might be something “grand and wonderful” (Dawkins’ phrase) outside of our current spacetime continuum.

I am a liberal Democrat who thinks that the current social atmosphere is tilted way too far toward the interests of big business, and I reject the idea that a “free market” cures all ills, though pure socialism doesn’t work either. I am also a believer in the freedom of speech, including speech that I might not like. Also, I’ve been involved (to a moderate degree) with political campaigns, ranging from City Council races up to Presidential races.

I like to post photos of trips and vacations.

I like women in spandex. 🙂

The 2016 election: I voted for Hillary Clinton and was dismayed that she lost the Electoral College, though I take a bit of comfort that a plurality of voters preferred her (by just over 2 percentage points!)

I see Donald Trump as an unqualified amateur who lacks the humility and deportment to be an effective president; I sure hope the time proves me wrong. It does not appear that I am wrong though (as of June, 2018) I’ve been wrong before (e. g. my election prediction) and will be wrong again. I hope this is one of those times.